Facebook Isn't Your Friend

Jessica Boone Cherok advised on privacy practices

Jessica Boone Cherok told the One Spark Speaker Series audience, “Facebook isn’t your friend.” In her talk of the same name, Cherok, a privacy advocate, described how Facebook shares user information on the Internet. “The knowledge gap is wide,” she explained. “The law has not caught-up with technology.”

Cherok is hardcore about her online privacy. She said she was so sick of her grandmother tagging her in embarrassing photos on Facebook that she deleted her. “They’re not secrets,” Cherok explained. “They’re just not things that I want the whole world to know.”

In 2012, Facebook purchased Instagram, a social media app largely known for its hipster demographic. “They’re like a crazy ex-girlfriend who’s always checking up on us,” Cherok said of Mark Zuckerberg’s creation. “Did you know that every year, the Federal Trade Commission files complaints against Facebook for deceptive privacy practices?”

“This generation will never lose track of anyone ever,” Cherok said. “Facebook is going to put Ancestry.com out of business.”

Cherok said that privacy responsibilities also lie with the user. “You can turn off cookies in your browser,” she advised. “You need to have an awareness of what people can see. You can control some of this to a certain extent.”